2024 year-in-review
TCL held a groundbreaking celebration for the Arthur E. Brown Regional Workforce Training Center in April 2024 at the college’s New River Campus. The building’s namesake, retired Gen. Arthur E. Brown Jr., 93, was on hand for the event as well as Beaufort lawmakers, members of TCL Area Commission, Foundation Board of Directors, the S.C. Technical College System, community members, TCL faculty and staff.
When completed, the new facility will sit adjacent to the campus’ Angus Cotton Building and will add 50,000 square feet of space with a capacity for 850 students. New and expanded programs will include manufacturing, automated systems, logistics, business, computer technology and more.
The TCL Culinary Institute of the South hosted the King Arthur Baking Company last April for the first ever “Tastes Like Home” recipe competition. The event was opened to area high school and current culinary institute students and held in conjunction with the CIS annual open house. The event drew record numbers and featured cooking demonstrations, tastings and presentations. Seven finalists competed but ultimately, Lauren Wood, a baking and pastry student at the Culinary Institute of the South, took home the grand prize. Wood received an all-expense paid trip to King Arthur’s baking facility in Norwich, Vermont, and her recipe for “Oscar’s Rum Cake” was published on King Arthur’s website.
After hosting a team of peer evaluators representing
the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) last fall, TCL went on to make significant progress toward the reaffirmation of its accreditation—a process that colleges undergo every ten years. TCL expects to hear a final decision from the SACSCOC board later in 2025.
Students entering the fall 2024 semester of TCL’s physical therapist assistant program were delighted to find a newer, larger lab space. Thanks to renovations on the Beaufort Mather Campus, the new lab in building 6, measures a whopping 1,443 square feet and features an additional extra- large mat table, a laundry area, extra storage space and office space for instructors. The new lab is part of a larger effort underway to improve and enhance classroom and lab space throughout the School of Health Sciences.
The inaugural Beaufort County School District Tides
program is off to a strong start at TCL’s New River
campus. The new full-time dual enrollment option
allows qualified ninth-graders to take college-level,
degree-seeking courses taught by TCL instructors.
BCSD Tides students can earn two associate degrees and a technical certificate from TCL in a variety of college and career pathways by the time they graduate high school. The district plans to expand offerings to the TCL Beaufort Campus in the fall of 2025.
TCL’s Marketing and Public Relations team launched a new multi-channel campaign last spring featuring billboards, digital and print ads, mailers and other collateral. The planning and launch of “Unwavering” was timed to follow the announcement of TCL’s new mascot – the Tides. A key aspect of the campaign is the word ‘Unwavering’ which is set against a background reminiscent of waves and paired with specific key messages. The overriding theme is that, like the Tides, TCL students are steadfast and unmoved.
TCL made the top 100 “power rankings” in late 2024 for its performance in a national cybersecurity competition which included teams from both
community colleges and four-year institutions from across the country. TCL’s team was ranked No. 75 out of the 476 colleges and universities that participated in the National Cyber League’s “ethical hacking competition”—or the legal practice of using hacker techniques to test systems for vulnerabilities.
KING TIDE ARRIVES AT TCL
KING TIDE: A TRULY NOBLE LEADER
King Tide, TCL’s first-ever mascot, was unveiled earlier this year. His one-of-a-kind persona spreads pure joy, Tides pride and a true love of learning wherever he goes.
WHERE DID HE COME FROM?
No one knows for sure. He is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. But like all good mysteries, there are theories. Watch this video or click below to learn more.
